Illinois’ betting market saw its first month-on-month decline in February according to the state’s report.
According to the latest figures from the Illinois Gaming Board sportsbooks in the state of Illinois processed $509.8m in bets in February, down from the record $581.6m wagered in January.
The majority of the state’s handle came from online bets after bettors wagered $490.2m with online sportsbooks.
Adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in February also saw a drop. According to the report, sportsbooks generated $35.4m in AGR, however, this was was down from the $49.4m generated in January.
February marks the first time Illinois’ sports betting market has recorded a decline in its figures since launching online betting in July 2020.
Online sports betting made up $33.3m of the state’s total revenue for the month while land-based sportsbooks generated $2.1m.
Operators paid $5.8m in tax with $5.3m coming from the state’s base tax rate and the remaining $541,832 coming from the 2% tax placed on bets in Cook County.
How each operator performed
Looking closer at the state report, DraftKings, which is partnered with Casino Queen, was the most popular sportsbook in the state after bettors in the state wagered a total of $199.8m on sports. Of this, $196.5m came from online bets and the remainder came from bets placed at the casino sportsbook.
Despite taking the most bets, DraftKings managed to generate $8.7m in revenue making it the second highest-earning sportsbook in the state.
FanDuel, which is partnered with Par-A-Dice, processed $158.9m in bets and took first place for revenue after generating $10.1m.
Rivers and its online sportsbook BetRivers took $96.4m in bets and managed to generate $6.6m in revenue.
Hawthorne Race Couse and its online partner PointsBet managed to generate $3.6m in revenue from $40.3m in bets.
Meanwhile, Grand Victoria and William Hill processed $10.1m in bets and managed to generate $678,796 in revenue.
Betting activity in February
Professional sports accounted for $371.2m of the state’s handle, while $137.2m was wagered on collegiate sporting events and $1.4m was wagered on motorsports events.
Basketball was the most popular sport to bet on after bettors wagered $256.7m on basketball events in February.
Bettors also wagered $45.3m on tennis events along with $94.1m on parlay bets.
Could the return of in-person registration stunt growth?
Last week, the executive order suspending the in-person registration requirement for online sports betting accounts, Executive Order 2020-41, expired on 3 April.
This means that Illinois consumers must visit one of the state’s casinos in order to create new online sports betting accounts.
Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker initially signed the executive order due to the public safety issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the closure of land-based casinos. The order was extended several times throughout the pandemic but has now come to an end.
Remote registration is likely the reason Illinois’ betting market has seen massive growth since launching last year.
Despite the closure of the state’s land-based casinos during the pandemic, Illinois’ sports betting market had been on track to take one of the top three spots in the entire US betting space.
However, without remote registration, operators will need to work just as hard to get new customers to sign up.
If Illinois’ Governor does not reinstate the Executive Order, Illinois operators will have to wait several months before being able to take remote registrations again. Under the state’s sports betting laws, the in-person registration requirement was set to run for the first 18 months of the market being live.
